U.S. seeks to dismiss tribes’ lawsuit over Keystone pipeline

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – Attorneys for the Trump administration are asking a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit from Native American tribes that want to block the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S.

Tribes in Montana and South Dakota say President Donald Trump approved the pipeline in March without considering potential damage to cultural sites from spills and construction.

The Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux tribe say Trump’s action violated their rights under treaties from the mid-1800s.

The administration argues Trump’s presidential permit applies only to a 1-mile section of pipeline along the U.S.-Canada border in northern Montana.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris will preside over a Thursday hearing on the government’s attempt to dismiss the case.